Burglary at Mecca Bingo in Southampton nets thousands (From Daily Echo)

Burglary at Mecca Bingo in Southampton nets thousands

3:47pm Saturday 9th January 2010

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A GANG of burglars escaped with thousands of pounds after ransacking a Southampton bingo hall.

They struck at Mecca Bingo after heavy snow and icy conditions forced it to close early for the night.

The group forced its way inside the premises from the back, and once inside smashed up more than 20 gaming machines to get their hands on the money inside.

Detectives believe the burglars may have used a vehicle to make their getaway and load up their haul of cash.

Other areas of the building were also accessed during the break-in, which is thought to have happened at around 10pm on Wednesday.

Police are not revealing exactly how much money was taken but have described it as “significant”.

Damage inside the property, including more than 20 gaming machines that were smashed up across the floor with the use of heavy equipment, is estimated to run into thousands of pounds.

Bosses at the bingo hall, in Portswood Road, have carried out a major clean-up and say the premises is now back open and it is business as usual.

A spokesman for the company said: “We can confirm that a burglary took place at Mecca Bingo Southampton on Wednesday night after the club had closed.

“Thankfully this meant that no team members or customers were in the club at the time.

“The club is always closed on Thursday afternoon, but we decided to keep it closed during the evening as well to enable the police to complete their inquiries and so that we could prepare it for yesterday’s bingo sessions.

We’re now back open for business as usual.”

Detectives at Bitterne CID are investigating the burglary and are urging anyone with information or who saw suspicious activity in the area, to come forward.

DS Matt Taylor said: “It was clear it was a very well planned break-in and those responsible have caused a considerable amount of damage to the property.

“A significant amount of cash was stolen and a number of gaming machines have been damaged in the process.

“It is not known how long the suspects were inside the building but I would ask anyone, particularly residents of Tennyson Road, to speak to us if they saw anything suspicious in their neighbourhood that evening.”

● Anyone with information should call 101.

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